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Andrew Haswell Green 




ANDREW HASWELL GREEN 



Andrew Haswell Green 



A Sketch 



By 

Samuel Swett Green 



From the Proceedings of the semi-annual meeting 

of the American Antiquarian Society, held 

in Boston, April 27, 1904. 



Worcester, Massachusetts 

The Hamilton Press 

1904 



17 



Gift 
Author 

(Person) 
I 






a 



ANDREW HASWELL GREEN-A SKETCH OF HIS 
ANCESTRY, LIFE AND WORK. 



Themistocles is quoted as saying: "I know how to raise 
a small and inconsiderable city to glory and greatness. " 
Seth Low, Mayor of New York when Mr. Green was 
killed, in announcing his death to the Board of Aldermen 
wrote: "It may truthfully be said that to no one man 
who has labored in and for the city during the last fifty 
years is the city under greater and more lasting obligations 
than to Andrew H. Green. The city itself, in some of 
its most beautiful and enduring features, is the monument 
of his love; and the city may well cherish his honored 
name with the undying gratitude that is due to a citizen 
who has made it both a greater and a better city than 
it was." 

Andrew Haswell Green was born on Green Hill in 
Worcester, Massachusetts, October 6, 1820. He was a son 
of William Elijah Green and his third wife, Julia Plimpton. 
The father was born on Green Hill in 1777 and died in 
his eighty-ninth year, in the room in which he was born. 
He was graduated from Brown University in 1798, studied 
law under Judge Edward Bangs of Worcester, became his 
partner and was afterwards connected in the practice of the 
law with Judge Bangs's son, Edward D. Bangs, for several 
years Secretary of State of Massachusetts. During the 
latter part of his life he withdrew from the practice of his 
profession and spent his time in the cultivation of his 
farm. He was, writes his son Andrew, "ever the genial 
companion of his children." He was married four times. 



The only child by his first wife was William Nelson Green, 
who was Judge of the Police Court in Worcester, from 
its establishment in 1848 to the time of its abolition, twenty 
years after. The only child by the second wife was Lucy 
Merriam Green, who, with her younger sister Mary, kept 
a well-known and favorite school for young ladies, for 
many years, at No. 1 Fifth avenue, New York City. These 
ladies were very much indebted to Andrew H. Green. He 
always remained unmarried, and made his sisters' house 
his home while they conducted their school, and looked 
carefully after the business and financial interests of the 
institution. 

The other nine children of William E. Green, besides 
William N. and Lucy, were the children of his third wife. 
The subject of this sketch was the fifth child by this wife, 
the seventh of his father's children and his third son. The 
child next older than Andrew was John Plimpton Green, 
a physician, who lived for five years in Whampoa, China, 
and afterwards for many years at Copiapo, Chile. The 
child next younger than Andrew was Samuel Fisk Green, 
a missionary doctor, who spent almost a quarter of a 
century in ministering personally to the wants of both the 
bodies and souls of the Tamil population of the island of 
Ceylon. After his return to Green Hill, he continued to 
translate medical treatises into the Tamil language until 
his death. Besides practising medicine in Ceylon he estab- 
lished there a medical school, whose pupils were very 
numerous. 

The first of Andrew H. Green's ancestors to come to 
America was Thomas Green, who appears as a resident of 
the northern part of Maiden, a portion of the town which 
is now included in Melrose and Wakefield, October 28, 
1651. It is conjectured that he had been in the country 
for several years before that date. Very little is known 
about him personally, and Mr. Waters, the genealogist, 
who has looked out for information on the matter while 



conducting other investigations in England, has not suc- 
ceeded in finding from what portion of that country he 
emigrated. Andrew Green, giving the reins to his imagi- 
nation, in some playful remarks which he made at the 
150th anniversary of the foundation of the old Baptist 
Church in Greenville, a village in the town of Leicester, 
Massachusetts, thus speaks of a possible connection of his 
ancestor with Milton and Shakespeare: "To bring the best 
proof we have of kinship with them, which it must be 
admitted is not very conclusive, I may mention that Benja- 
min Green was one of the subscribing witnesses to that 
agreement by which, for five pounds, the great Milton, 
poet, statesman, scholar, transferred his immortal epic to 
the printer, Symons; and this further history affirms, that 
Thomas Green was a relative of, and fellow comedian with, 
William Shakespeare, and that Shakespeare's father pos- 
sessed an estate known as Green Hill." 

The grandson of Thomas Green, Captain Samuel Green, 
was one of the first settlers in Leicester and an original 
proprietor of lands in the neighboring town of Hardwick. 
He married a daughter of Lieutenant Phineas Upham, and 
so Andrew Green was descended from that progenitor of 
the American Uphams who was severely wounded in 1665 
in the battle against the Narragansetts, during King Philip's 
War. 

Captain Samuel Green was one of the principal men in 
Leicester, or Strawberry Hill, its early name. Just before 
taking his family to that town, about the year 1717, he 
left his only son Thomas at South Leicester (now known 
as Greenville), in charge of some cattle which had been 
driven from Maiden. While there the boy, it is said, was 
attacked with fever and became very ill, a sore appear- 
ing. In his weak state he rested in a sort of cave made 
by a shelving rock in a little stream and secured food by 
milking a cow which he induced to come to him frequently 
by tying her calf to a tree near the cave. His father heard 



6 

of his illness, went to Leicester for him and took him home 
on horseback. It has been remarked that as Romulus 
and Remus were suckled by a wolf, so was Thomas Green 
suckled by a cow. It may be further remarked that had 
it not been for the nourishment afforded by that cow 
Thomas Green would have perished probably, and in that 
case there would have been no Andrew H. Green. I may 
also say, incidently, that in that contingency I should not 
be speaking to you today. 

Of Thomas Green, Hiram C. Estes, D.D., said in 1888 : " Dr. 
Green lived three lives and did the work of three men in 
one. He was a man of business, active, energetic and 
successful. ... He was also a noted physician" . . . 
and "a preacher of the gospel, quite as eminent in this 
as in his other spheres of life." Besides having an ex- 
tensive practice as a doctor, he is said to have had 
under him one hundred and twenty-three medical students. 
In speaking of the church building of the Baptist Society 
in Greenville, Dr. Estes, says: "it appears that Dr. Green 
was the principal proprietor of the house, that its grounds 
were given by him and its frame was raised and covered 
at his expense." Thomas Green was the pastor of the 
church which he founded, for almost thirty-five years, and 
while he was preaching on Sunday, says Andrew Green, 
"at his home across the way the pot was kept boiling to 
supply the needed sustenance to the little flock which came 
from all directions to attend upon his ministrations." 

Dr. Thomas Green bought the homestead in Worcester 
which forms the nucleus of the extensive and beautifully 
situated estate on Green Hill, lately owned by Andrew 
H. Green. This is one of the finest gentlemen's places in 
that neighborhood. "The deed was given by ' Thomas 
Adams to Thomas Green of Leicester, for and in considera- 
tion of Three hundred and Thirty Pounds 6-8 by him 
paid/ and is dated 'the 28 day of May Anno Domini 
1754'. ... At his death," Aug. 19, 1773, "his estate 



passing through the probate office was appraised at 
£4495 4s. 3id., equivalent very nearly to $22,476.76, an 
estate said to have been larger than any 'that had been 
entered at the probate office at Worcester previous to his 
death.' " Thomas Green bought this estate for his son, 
Dr. John Green, who went from Leicester to Worcester to 
live, and who was the first to bear the name and title 
which have been borne by distinguished physicians and 
surgeons in every generation of his descendants, his son, 
his grandson, in Worcester, his great-grandson and great- 
great-grandson, who are still living, but have their homes 
in St. Louis. 

The estate, as has probably been surmised from what 
has already been said, has remained in the possession of 
members of Thomas Green's family since its purchase. 
Andrew Green, writing about the old house, says that: 
"It was not far from the city of Worcester, a plain wooden 
dwelling, two storied but low in the ceilings, of ample 
length and breadth, and anchored by a chimney of need- 
less proportions. It stood on a by-road or lane, which 
was but little frequented. About the premises could be 
seen evidences of taste struggling for a more emphatic 
manifestation, but confined by imperative demands upon 
a limited treasury." With the deep interest which he 
always felt in his home and family he speaks of the home- 
stead as having " associations which became dearer with 
the lapse of time, the very trees . . . embodying mem- 
ories which greatly enhanced their value. The spacious 
garret," he says, was "a heterogeneous museum of relics, 
affording inexhaustible amusement"; and remarks that 
"the library" was "rather scant, but of standard works, 
elevating, refining and well read." 

After Andrew H. Green became the owner of the place 
on Green Hill he made large purchases of adjoining land, 
and in time built a new house. Such, however, was his 
interest in his old home that instead of tearing down the 



8 

old house he cut it in two from side to side, and moving 
back the rear portion, put up a fine mansion between the 
front and the back of the old building, securing in the 
middle of the house large and high rooms on the lower 
floor and suites of apartments for himself and brothers 
and sisters above. Recently a spacious portico has been 
added to the old front of the house. 

Mr. Andrew Green showed great anxiety about having 
the estate on Green Hill kept in the family. He consulted 
me again and again regarding its disposition. Finally he 
put into his will a provision by which it has been left to 
several nephews and nieces, representing three of his 
brothers, with power to sell, but with the expression of a 
hope that the property may be preserved as a gathering- 
place for the family, and especially for the descendants of 
his father. 

I am informed by Oliver Bourn Green of Chicago, a 
younger brother of Andrew H. Green, that it is the desire 
and purpose of the heirs to carry out the latter's wishes 
and keep intact the house and at least about forty acres, 
known as the home lot. 

The first Dr. John Green married for a second wife a 
daughter of General Timothy Ruggles of Hardwick. An- 
drew H. Green always felt an intense interest in the career 
of his great-grandfather Ruggles. He spent much time in 
making investigations regarding his life, and was proud 
of his descent from that distinguished lawyer, judge, states- 
man and soldier. He had a sketch of his life privately 
printed, and subsequently collected interesting material 
regarding it. Nothing would have gratified Mr. Green 
more than to have been allowed to place a commemorative 
tablet of Judge Ruggles in the County Court House in 
Worcester. But although the attainments and work of the 
latter amply justify such recognition, it would probably 
be hard to induce the proper authorities to do honor, in 
the way mentioned, to Massachusetts' great loyalist. We 



have come to regard with generosity and tenderness the 
opponents of the United States in the Civil War, but still 
have hard hearts when we think of the men who took the 
side of the king in the Revolution. 

Andrew H. Green's deep affection for Ins family and 
ancestors was shown in various other ways. He always 
carried his brothers and sisters and their children and 
grandchildren in his heart, and no one of them ever suffered 
for the lack of a home or the comforts of life. Mr. Green 
placed a mural bronze tablet in the interior of the 
church in Greenville in remembrance of its first pastor, 
Thomas Green. Had I given him encouragement to believe 
that it was fitting to single out one from the thousands 
of. young men who did service in the Civil War for especial 
and lavish commemoration he would, I am sure, have 
engaged St. Gaudens, or another sculptor as distinguished, 
to have made a statue of his nephew, William Nelson 
Green, Junior, to be placed in an appropriate position in 
Worcester. Through his grandmother Mr. Green was 
descended from the Bournes of the Cape, from Governor 
Thomas Dudley of the colony of Massachusetts Bay, and 
from Rev. John Woodbridge, a brother of Benjamin Wood- 
bridge, whose name stands first on the roll of graduates 
of Harvard College. He was also descended from the three 
Tillies and John Howland, passengers on the "Mayflower." 

William Elijah Green, the father of Andrew H. Green, 
was very careful to have his children as well educated as 
his means would allow. The boy Andrew attended the 
common schools in Worcester, and was a studious scholar. 
His father could not send him to college, but during life 
he was a diligent reader and student of good books. There 
was some thought of having him enter the Military Academy 
at West Point, but this plan was given up. 

It is not my purpose to give in detail a record of Mr. 
Green's life. That work has been done already. In the 
interests of accuracy, however, it seems best to make 



10 

considerable extracts from an account of his early life, 
which he dictated to a niece. The account is written in 
the third person. 

"In 1835" Mr. Green, when a boy, "went with his sister 
Lucy by steamboat and stage to New York; was employed 
as errand boy in the store of Hinsdale and Atkins at $50 
a year and board; then as clerk with Lee, Savage & Co., 
wholesale cloth merchants and importers, where he was 
steadily advanced till reaching nearly the head position, 
when the firm failed in the mercantile embarrassments of 
1837. After a severe illness and return to Green Hill for 
months of recuperation, he entered the employ of Wood, 
Johnston and Barritt, linen importers, in Exchange place; 
then he went to the firm of Simeon Draper, where he was 
kept up nearly all night arranging for sales. Through a 
friend of the family he met Mr. Burnley, who had interests 
in sugar plantations in Trinidad. Through Mr. Burnley 
he went, when twenty-one years old, to Trinidad, where 
for nearly a year he was engaged on the plantation owned 
by Mr. Burnley. While in Trinidad he became familiar 
with the cultivation of sugar-cane, the manufacture of 
sugar, molasses, etc., but seeing how crude were the methods 
used, tried without success to introduce improved processes. 
Realizing that advanced ideas would not be adopted, he 
determined to return to New York, where he entered the 
law office of his relative, "Mr. John W. Mitchell." Soon 
after "he entered the law office of Samuel J. Tilden, whose 
political principles he shared, and with whom he sustained 
confidential and trusted relations throughout life. He was 
elected by the people Trustee of Schools in the Fourth 
Ward. Thereafter he was School Commissioner and mem- 
ber of the Board of Education, then was made President 
of the Board, it having forty-four members." Two years 
later, at the age of thirty-seven, in the year 1857, Mr. 
Green became a Commissioner of Central Park "and became 
Treasurer of the Board" of Commissioners, "President and 
Executive Officer of the Board, that is, Comptroller of the 
Park, for about ten years. He had complete supervision 
of the engineers, landscape architects, gardeners and the 
whole retinue of employes, sometimes comprising as many 
as three thousand men. The office of Comptroller of the 



11 

Park was created especially for Mr. Green, and on this 
account, that in the early year or two of the Park, there 
was constant friction with the then forming ring, and the 
Park Board were quite willing to leave the work to anyone 
who would attend to it. At that time Mr. Green was 
made President and Treasurer. As the Park was developed 
and grew in popularity, some member intimated that one 
man should not hold two offices. As the Legislature had 
authorized the Board to attach a salary to either of the 
two offices, the Board fixed the salary to the office of the 
Treasurer and elected Mr. Green Treasurer. Whereupon 
Mr. Green immediately declined to accept the office. He 
was elected President. The member who was elected 
Treasurer, with the salary, served for a few months with- 
out satisfaction. Upon this the office of Comptroller of 
the Park was created, with all the executive power of the 
Board united to those of the Treasurer, leaving to the 
President the power of presiding at the Board meetings. 
Mr. Green was elected Comptroller of the Park and con- 
tinued as such for ten years, until the Tweed Charter of 
1870 removed the members of the Board from office and 
turned the Park over to a department of the city govern- 
ment appointed by A. Oakey Hall, then Mayor. Mr. Green 
was appointed a member of the new board, but his associates 
were those with whom he had no relations whatever, and 
in 1872 he resigned." 

Chancellor MacCracken, of New York University, in 
speaking of Mr. Green, said that "by his care for Central 
Park" he "was led to care for related enterprises, such 
as the Museum of Art, the Museum of Science and the 
Zoological Garden. He was constantly alive to the work 
of beautifying the city, whether by individual effort or as 
a member of one or another organization. A recent ad- 
dress at Fraunces Tavern declared that his thoughtfulness 
was ' woven into the structure and visible aspect of New 
York. Here we see it in a reserved acre of greensward; 
there in the curve of a graceful line, like the beautiful 
span of Washington Bridge, and somewhere else in a sweet 
sounding name, like Morningside.' " 



12 

Mr. Green had a rare combination of qualities to fit him 
to do the great work which he did in laying out and develop- 
ing Central Park. He had an eye for the picturesque and 
beautiful, and a fondness and aptitude for the kind of 
practical service needed. He had too a passion for having 
everything done thoroughly. 

The qualities which made his work at Central Park so 
remarkable and valuable caused him to be naturally thought 
of for similar positions. When the State of New York 
acquired the grounds on the American side of Niagara 
Falls Mr. Green was appointed a member of the original 
Board of Commissioners on the Niagara Reservation, and 
held the position by successive gubernatorial appointments 
until Ms death. For the greater portion of the time he 
was President of the Board. The care which has been 
taken of the grounds, the improvements which have been 
made and the comfort which visitors now find in visiting 
the Falls make everyone who goes to Niagara a willing 
witness to the efficiency of the work of the Commission 
and the value of its services. 

In the sixteenth annual report of the Commissioners is 
the following passage: "The island between the mainland 
and Goat Island has been known as Bath Island. In 
honor of the Hon. Andrew H. Green, who has been a zealous 
and efficient member of the Board of Commissioners of 
the State Reservation at Niagara, since its establishment 
in 1883, and almost continuously the President of the 
Board, on November 16, 1898, the Commissioners by 
resolution changed the name of Bath Island to Green 
Island. As the island is a sloping green lawn, the name 
of Green Island is doubly appropriate/' The frontispiece of 
the report is a portrait of Mr. Green standing in a pictur- 
esque scene of rocks, shrubs and trees and water churned 
into the froth of rapids. 

Several years ago the State of New York established a 
Commission with the title, " Trustees of Scenic and His- 



13 

torical Places and Objects in the State of New York." 
The name of the Commission has twice been changed. It 
stands now, " American Scenic and Historic Preservation 
Society." Mr. Green was the founder and enthusiastic 
President of this organization from its start to the time 
of his death. 

In 1865 when he was Comptroller of the Park, the Legis- 
lature imposed upon the Commissioners of Central Park 
the duty of laying out that portion of the island lying 
north of One Hundred and Fifty-fifth street. 

Mr. Green's attitude regarding the civil service reforms 
was shown in a card which he communicated to the men 
who were working upon the improvements which have 
been spoken of. 

"Men. are employed by the Commissioners of the Park," 
it reads, ' ' to work for their regular wages and for no other 
consideration whatever. The labor of each man employed, 
his compliance with the rules of the work, and civil behavior 
are all that will be required of him. No influence of any 
sort will be brought to bear upon the political opinions 
or actions of men employed. 

Andrew H. Green." 

"Mr. Green," it has been said, "required the reading 
of this notice once a fortnight by the foreman to each gang 
of laborers, and had it posted on every tool-box used in 
the department." 

It was while he was directing the work of laying out 
Central Park and upper New York that Mr. Green first 
called public attention, in a serious and deliberate manner, 
to the desirability of the union of the towns and cities, 
now popularly known as "Greater New York." 

"Jan. 1, 1898," says Chancellor MacCracken, "the cities, 
towns and villages clustering about Manhattan Island were, 
together with that island, united into a great municipality 
entitled 'The City of New York.' Thirty years before that % 
date this notable consummation was proposed by Andrew H. 
Green in a formal report made to the Board of Commission- 



14 

ers of the Central Park. . . . The movement resulted 
five years later, in the year 1873, in the annexation to 
New York of Morrisania, West Farms and Kingsbridge 
and to still further additions in the year 1895." Mr. 
Green presented to the Legislature of New York in 1890 
a notable paper in advocacy of consolidation. When the 
question was put to a vote Nov. 6, 1894, " everyone of 
the four counties concerned voted 'yes.' The Commission 
to draft the charter was appointed by the State June 9, 
1896, with Mr. Green as Chairman. . . . The Char- 
ter" as drafted, " became a law Nov. 4, 1897. The 
new City of New York began to exist Jan. 1, 1898. On 
the twenty-second of May, 1898, Mr. Green was invited 
by the City Legislature to accept congratulations for his 
work in the forming of the Greater New York. A thought- 
ful address was given by him." A gold medal was struck 
as a memorial and was presented to Mr. Green on the 
6th of October, 1898. By general agreement also he has 
come to be known as the Father of Greater New York. 
The important share which Mr. Green took in this great 
work of consolidation showed conspicuously some of the 
controlling features of his character. In large undertakings, 
as well as small, he always sought, in the first place, to 
make himself master of all information to be had and when 
after careful study he had come to a conclusion, worked 
for the object to be sought with singleness of purpose, 
unremittingly and with tireless perseverance. In the pres- 
ent instance he made himself thoroughly acquainted with 
the history of the great cities of the world and the methods 
which had been successfully used in the conduct of their 
affairs. Having for his aim "the harmonization of rivalries 
and the equalization of burdens and privileges dating back 
to the very foundation of the City " of New York, he labored 
for the accomplishment of his object with "a persistency 
of purpose, born of experience, knowledge and courageous 
tenacity." 



15 

A word must be said about Mr. Green's connection with 
the foundation of the New York Public Library. He was 
one of the executors of the will of the late Samuel J. Tilden 
and one of the three original trustees appointed by him 
in his will to add to their number and establish a great 
free library in New York. It is well known that the bulk 
of Mr. Tilden's property went to relatives who contested 
the provisions of his will. A considerable sum was saved, 
however, through the wise action of the executors. Mr. 
Green did other work of especial value in connection with 
this matter. Before public attention was excited, and in 
anticipation of the fear of custodians of private institutions, 
he consulted me about a scheme which he had for bring- 
ing about a union of some of the great libraries of New 
York and in furtherance of that scheme quietly secured 
legislation which would make the union possible. The 
result of the movement thus started was the consolidation 
in 1895 of the Astor, Lenox and Tilden foundations in 
the formation of The New York Public Library, which 
through the assiduous and valuable labors of its well-known 
and accomplished librarian, Dr. John S. Billings, by means 
of subsequent consolidations and aided by a munificent 
gift from Mr. Carnegie and city appropriations, bids fair 
to become one of the most important institutions in New 
York. 

Mr. Green first came conspicuously before the American 
people in consequence of his efficient labors in bringing 
to justice the members of the notorious Tweed ring, whose 
enormous frauds startled the country in the middle of 1871. 
In July of that year " certain so-called secret accounts 
were copied from the records of the City Comptroller " of 
New York, "by one of the clerks and were given to 
the public. ... By this publication there grew up a 
general conviction that robberies had been committed 
against the city on a large scale." The Comptroller sus- 
pecting "that he was to be offered up by his accomplices 



16 

as a sacrifice to public suspicion . . . consented, in 
order to save himself, to permit" a person selected by 
the gentlemen who had undertaken to look into the matter 
"to be made Deputy Comptroller with complete command 
of the office in his stead." Mr. Green, as is well known, 
was made Deputy Comptroller. The result is described in 
the following paragraphs from a memorial address given at 
the request of the City of New York December 30, 1903, 
in the City Hall:— 

"In Mr. Tilden's works, in an article which bears the 
title ' Figures That Could Not Lie/ is given an affidavit 
made by Mr. Tilden, to the effect that happening casually 
one day in the office of the Comptroller he was consulted 
by Mr. Andrew H. Green, Deputy Comptroller, and was 
requested by the said Green to make some investigations. 
The investigation was to be in the accounts of the Broad- 
way National Bank. Mr. Tilden goes on to say that from 
these accounts and from the books of the Comptroller's 
office, he was enabled to trace into the pockets of Tweed 
and his fellow pirates two-thirds of about $6,000,000 that 
had been paid out fraudulently on certain bills, chiefly 
for the Tweed court house in the City Hall Park. Mr. 
Tilden says: 'This information converted a strong sus- 
picion into a mathematical certainty; it furnished judicial 
proof against the guilty parties.' . . . The work 
thus begun by Andrew H. Green was continued by him 
for five years, during which he was vested with the full 
power of the office. After the utterly loose and dishonest 
methods of his predecessors, he felt called to enforce in 
strictest fashion every possible measure against not only 
dishonest but even doubtful claims. He made enemies by 
this strictness, but the times justified the strictness." 

An interesting example of the reputation which Mr. 
Green acquired for persistent thoroughness in the examina- 
tion of accounts has been given me by his youngest brother, 
Martin Green of Green Hill. Upon retiring in 1876 from 
the office of Comptroller Andrew Green assumed the exten- 
sive responsibility of executor of the estate of William B. 



17 

Ogden, the railroad king of Chicago and New York. The 
latter was a great business man, but, I understand, left 
his affairs in a somewhat unsettled condition. The very 
day that Andrew H. Green accepted the position of execu- 
tor, Mr. Martin Green informs me, one hundred and fifty 
suits against Mr. Ogden were withdrawn. It was recognized 
that all claims would be most carefully examined and 
their payment contested tooth and nail if they had elements 
of weakness or unfairness in them. But Mr. Richard 
Henry Greene justly remarks of Mr. Green that: "Although 
stern and uncompromising in the pursuit of his objects, 
his single-minded devotion to the public welfare," and he 
might have added his just spirit in the management of 
private affairs, "and his perfect candor made even the 
enemies of his measures forgive his attitude toward them." 
When he was appointed Deputy Comptroller the New York 
Tribune spoke of him as "incorruptible, inaccessible to 
partisan or personal considerations, immovable by threats 
or bribes, and honest by the very constitution of his own 
nature"; and as fitted for the position by "long experience 
in public affairs, strict sense of accountability, and thorough 
methods of doing business." 

The caution of Mr. Green is shown by the fact that he 
always insisted as Comptroller upon frequent examinations 
of his accounts. 

Those were troublous times in New York when Mr. 
Green acted as Comptroller. This is evident when we 
remember that, on the insistence of his friends, he was 
escorted in a hollow square of mounted police to and 
from his office, that his house was guarded by police at 
night, and the entrance to his office during the hours of 
business. 

Had Samuel J. Tilden become President of the United 
States, Mr. Green would probably have been a member 
of his cabinet. "While the issue of the contest was yet 
in doubt, the Hon. William M. Evarts chanced to meet 



18 

Mr. Green on the street one day and said to him : ' If Tilden 
is elected President you will be Secretary of the Treasury; 
if Hayes is elected I am to be Secretary of State.' " It 
was through Mr. Green's efforts, assisted by the Empire 
State Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, 
that the historic City Hall of old New York was preserved 
from destruction. 

Much as he was interested in the erection of a suitable 
building for the New York Public Library he resisted 
earnestly the use of Bryant Park, one of the playgrounds 
of the people, as a site. Again and again he remonstrated, 
and generally successfully, against the use of Central Park 
for what he considered illegitimate purposes. 

Mr. Green was one of the original trustees of the New 
York and Brooklyn Bridge. In 1890 the Legislature 
appointed him a Commissioner to locate and approve the 
plan of the great railroad bridge across the Hudson River, 
which is to unite Manhattan Island with the rest of the 
continent. The people elected him a member of the Con- 
stitutional Convention of 1894. He held from time to 
time other important public positions. Mr. Green was a 
member of the New York Historical Society, the New York 
Genealogical and Biographical Society, and many other 
societies devoted to geography, history, the fine arts, 
science and philanthropy. He became a member of the 
American Antiquarian Society in October, 1889, and at 
once showed his interest by sending $50 to the Treasurer. 
He remembered the Society in his will by making a bequest 
of $5,000. He also left $5,000 to Clark University and 
$1,000 to The Isabella Heimath, a home for the aged in 
New York. 

Mr. Green was a man of vigorous constitution and able 
to turn off an immense amount of work. He was always 
abstemious in eating and never used wine, spirits or tobacco. 
When nearly eighty years old he underwent a very delicate 
operation without apparent loss of vigor, and when eighty- 



19 

two years of age was subjected to another important 
surgical operation without impairing his strength. 

Mr. Green was, as has been remarked, a man of strict 
integrity. I have alluded to his trait of thoroughness in 
investigation and in practical action. He was as remarkable 
for his accuracy in thought, speech and composition. He 
was at great pains to adhere to the exact truth in every 
statement. He was a very kind-hearted man and readily 
touched. His affection for the members of his family was 
matched by the tenderness of his feelings and gentleness 
of his treatment with animals. His friend, Rev. Leighton 
Williams, said of him that, "his purity of thought and 
feeling displayed the nobility of his nature. No coarse 
expression marred his spoken or written word. . . . 
Of the hidden well of ldndness within, the glance of his 
eye and the smile which played about it spoke eloquently." 
Mr. Williams says that: " Daily he read his Bible and 
often in the evenings loved to hear the hymns of his child- 
hood said or sung." He had his doubts, but, apparently, 
refrained from entertaining them, fearing doubtless, as so 
many men do today, that if they begin to think much about 
religious matters they may become unsettled in their views 
and probably not lay new foundations for right living. 

In politics, Mr. Green was always a democrat. He 
believed in and trusted the people, and was generally 
faithful to the creed of his party. But as regarded the 
subject of protection of American industries he stood with 
the late Mr. Randall and other Pennsylvania democrats. 
He was also a man who never hesitated to stand alone 
when he did not approve of the course of his party. Of 
Mr. Green's character Mr. Williams says: "He had the 
rugged strength of the Puritan stock from which he sprang, 
a character like the granite rock of the New England State 
from which he came. He greatly admired the men of the 
English Commonwealth, Cromwell and Milton, and his 
character grew to a dignity like theirs." 



20 

He was a man of unwearied diligence and indefatigable 
industry. Whenever he went to Worcester, he carried 
with him a satchel of papers to look over and sign in the 
cars. Another satchel would be sent to him from New 
York to examine and sign on the cars when returning. 
It is pre-eminently proper, using a much overworked 
word, to say of him that his life was strenuous. 

Mr. Green was " clear of intellect, warm of heart, firm 
of purpose, vigorous in action." Had he no faults? He 
certainly had faults. Thus, he was imperious. He formed 
his opinions very carefully, held to them firmly and was 
without doubt often impatient of opposition. This quality 
interfered with the comfort of persons in public contact 
with him, made men fear him, and raised up many ene- 
mies. It should be remembered however that it was his 
strength of conviction and his persistence, after thorough 
investigation, united with ability and public spirit, which 
made him the great power that he was in affairs. 

"Mr. Green was vain," you say. Perhaps so. His 
vanity was not of a petty kind, however. He was con- 
scious of having done great things, perhaps exaggerated 
the importance of his own part in bringing about results, 
and was proud of what he had accomplished. But Mr. 
Green had much to be proud of. 

"He was parsimonious/' you say. He certainly spent 
very little on himself, and always discouraged luxurious 
living and waste. It was hard, too, for him to spend money, 
even for good objects. He had some of the traits that 
many men have whose means in early life have been con- 
tracted, and whose property has been acquired by the 
exercise of strict economy and not by inheritance or specu- 
lation. Mr. Green was not avaricious, however, not greedy 
to get rich rapidly, and he spent freely, although cautiously 
and carefully in his family. He was lavish, too, in the 
expenditure of valuable time, and doing an unlimited 
amount of unrequited hard work for the benefit of mankind. 



21 

While " every day was filled with a multiplicity of business 
affairs" . . . "he had time to think of others" always. 

There is reason to believe that if Mr. Green had not 
been absorbed in business and public affairs he would have 
become a devotee of literature. He sometimes seemed to 
his acquaintances prosaic, but in reality read freely of 
the best literature and was very fond of poetry. He often 
quoted from the best authors. During the latter part of 
his fife he exerted himself to awaken interest in a project 
for placing a statue of Milton in some prominent place 
in New York. 

Andrew H. Green was killed November 13, 1903, by a 
crazy man, just as he was entering his house. 

"Of that venerable man, dying on a highway which is 
the property of New York City, it may be said in a pro- 
found sense" it has been remarked, "in which it can hardly 
be said of any other man, that dying there, he died at 
home." The words of another eulogist, in speaking of Mr. 
Green's connection with New York: "Of him may it be 
said more than of the architect of St. Paul's, 'Would you 
see his monument? Look about you/ " 

Rev. Leighton Williams, in an address at Mr. Green's 
funeral, aptly quotes, as descriptive of him, the words of 
the Roman poet: "A just man and firm of purpose; not 
the ardor of citizens demanding what is base, nor the 
countenance of the frowning dictator shakes his solid mind." 
He also quotes, as applicable to Mr. Green, words of the 
Roman historian Tacitus regarding his father-in-law, Agri- 
cola: "With admiration rather than with transient praise, 
we will adorn thy memory, and, if nature permit, with 
emulation also. This is the truest honor, this the sincerest 
praise. The form and figure of the mind would we embrace 
rather than that of the body; not that we would be 
careless or indifferent to images formed of bronze or marble, 
but as the features of men are mortal, so also are the images 
of them. The form of the mind alone is eternal, and this 



22 

is not to be expressed through an alien material or art, 
but only in likeness of character. Whatever in him we 
have loved, whatever we have admired, remains and will 
remain in the lives of men, in the eternity of times. While 
multitudes of men, as inglorious and ignoble, are lost in 
oblivion, his memory will endure, transmitted to the ages 
to come." 



NOTE. 



In preparing the foregoing paper I learned much from conversations 
with relatives and friends of the deceased, and drew largely from my 
own knowledge, obtained in familiar intercourse with Mr. Green for 
many years. I had before me, too, a typewritten copy of the address 
of Rev. Leighton Williams at the funeral of Mr. Green, belonging to 
Mrs. Samuel Fisk Green. Following are most of the important printed 
sources of information regarding Mr. Green: 

"Official report of the presentation to Andrew Haswell Green of 
a gold medal," published by authority of the Historical and Memorial 
Committee of the Mayor's Committee on the Celebration of Municipal 
Consolidation, 1899. 

"New York: The Second City of the World." The Republic Press 
of New York, 1898. 

"Andrew Haswell Green: a Memorial Address given at the request 
of the City of New York," by Henry Mitchell MacCracken, December 
30, 1903, in the City Hall. Published by the City of New York in 
the City Record, February 18, 1904. 

"A genealogical sketch of the descendants of Thomas Green(e), of 
Maiden, Mass." By Samuel S. Greene, Providence, R. I. Boston, 
Henry W. Dutton & Son, Printers, 1858. 

"The Greenville Baptist Church in Leicester, Massachusetts. 
Exercises on the 150th anniversary of its formation, September 
28, 1888." Worcester, C. F. Lawrence & Co., Printers, 195 Front 
street, 1889. 

"The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, April, 1904. 
Andrew Haswell Green." By Richard Henry Greene, A.M., LL.B. 
(with portrait). 

Annual reports of the Commissioners of the State Reservation at 
Niagara; especially the 16th, published in Albany, by James B. Lyme, 
State Printer, 1900. 

Annual reports of the Trustees of Scenic and Historic Places and 
Objects in the State of New York (3 in number), The Society for the 
Preservation of Scenic and Historic Places and Objects (2 in number), 



23 



and the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society (from the 
6th report, 1901, on). 

" Life and letters of Samuel Fisk Green, M.D.," compiled by Ebenezer 
Cutler, D.D. Printed for family friends, 1891. (Introduction and at 
the end of the book, "Tamils Educated in Medicine by Dr. Samuel 
F. Green.") 



12 1905 



X™L,? F CONGRESS 



029 785 117 2 



